


Math is Hard for All Except Tommy Shelby

by cheeky_blinders



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-19 10:55:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18134822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheeky_blinders/pseuds/cheeky_blinders





	Math is Hard for All Except Tommy Shelby

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TinyPineTrees](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinyPineTrees/gifts).



"I don’t get this!” Ada cried, throwing her pen down onto the sheet of homework that lay before her and leaned back in her chair, giving a loud huff. “Homework is stupid anyway, especially numbers!” She declared in a loud voice. “I’m not doing it!”  
“Stop being so dramatic, Ada!” Arthur complained from the other side of the table where he sat, feet up on the table, cleaning out his nails with a pocket knife.  
“I don’t see you doing your homework,” Ada said in a huff.  
“Don’t have any,” Arthur replied with a shrug.  
“Liar! You totally do!”  
“Do not!”  
“Do too! I saw Mrs. Changretta give you some!” Arthur was about to open his mouth to reply but Polly beat her to it.  
“Ada, shut up.” She scolded. “Arthur, wipe that smirk off your face and go do your homework. You’re sixteen bloody years old. You know better. And get your feet off the fucking table.” Arthur at least knew better than to argue with his aunt. He glared at Ada as he got up, grumbling and offering a few swears as he left the kitchen and went up to his room. Ada doubted he would even do the work, seeing how Mrs. Changretta favored him as well as John and often looked the other way when it came to the two brothers. “Go get Tommy or John to help you with your work,” Polly said before she too left the kitchen.

Ada sat there with a scowl on her young face for a few minutes, legs swinging back and forth slowly. She didn’t want to do her homework! She wanted to go outside and play, not do stupid things with stupid numbers. However, Ada knew that Polly would not be thrilled if she came back to find Ada had not done her homework and Ada figured Polly's wrath was worse than math. Ada let a sigh slip out of her lips before she slid off her chair and made her way outside.

It didn’t take long for her to find John and Thomas who were down the street. The two boys along with Jeremiah were part of a group of older boys and as Ada got closer, she saw that they were playing marbles. Even the older kids were still into marbles though they might not openly admit it. 

Ada pushed her way through the group of boys, having done this before to get to her brothers. 8-year-old Ada was used to fighting her way through this world and her brothers certainly helped. She was given freedom that not every other girl might experience since the people knew that if someone did try to hurt Ada Shelby, her brothers would come for blood. And while John was only a year older than her, it was Tommy and Arthur you wanted to watch out for.

“Tommy! John!” She said once that round had finished and Tommy and John looked up at you. “Polly says you have to help me with my homework.” John glared at Ada.  
“I don’t need to help you with your bloody homework,” John muttered as the boys around them chuckled. Thomas, on the other hand, stared at Ada for a long moment and she looked back at him, meeting his gaze silently. Tommy then gives a nod, starting to pick up his marbles.  
“Don’t lose the bloody game while I’m gone,” Tommy told his brother as he stood, ruffling John’s hair as he led the way out of the circle of boys. “So what’s the homework you need to do?” Tommy asked as the two head back to the house. Ada was glad that it was Thomas who offered to help her. She had the best relationship with Thomas and he was always the most patient with her.  
“Maths,” Ada answered.  
“What don’t you understand about it?” Tommy asked.  
“All of it,” Ada grumbled, kicking a rock and watch it skip ahead of her. “All of it is stupid and boring and it’s all pointless too. I already know how to count and those dot things are stupid too!” Thomas just smiled quietly down at his sister as she continued to rant all the way home. 

Once they got home, Thomas sat down with Ada and glanced over her work. They were doing fractions. Simple enough. The first problem was 7/8-5/8. “Alright, Ada,” Tommy began before grabbing a spare piece of paper and ripping it into eight pieces. “How many pieces do I got?” He asked and Ada counted them up before replying with “8″. "That means that the paper is in eight pieces." Tommy took one away. "How many are there now?" "7." 'Right, so there's 7/8 here." Tommy then took away five pieces. "How many are left?" "2." Ada answered after a pause. "There you go, see how that worked?" Ada looked at the paper for a few long moments before nodding slowly. "Do you really understand it or are you just saying it to get out of doing the work?" "I get it!" Ada assured him as she wrote down the answer. They moved onto the next problem then and Tommy once more tore up the paper. They continued this method until the section was done. The next set of problems were with larger numbers and addition and subtraction. 

“These are really hard!” Ada complained with a huff.  
“Come on, Ada, we’ll get through this,” Tommy assured her and they started on the first problem. Ada slowly was able to get the hang of it but it was taking her a lot of time which she did not like. The sun would be setting soon and she wanted to go outside! Thankfully though, they managed to get the work done before the sunset. 

Ada put down her pen with a dramatic sigh, grinning at Thomas. “Go on now, go play,” Thomas said, smiling down at his sister. Ada jumped up and gave Thomas a quick, tight hug before she raced out the door.

“You know, you’re really the only one who can help her with the math. I’ve tried and Arthur has too. She just gets mad and storms off.” Polly commented, causing Thomas to jump since he hadn’t realized his aunt had been watching in the corner. 

“Yeah, well, it ain’t hard to do,” Thomas said with a shrug though, it did appear that there were was a faint smile on his lips. Polly smirked at him. “It’s alright to admit that you like the fact that you’re the only one who can help her.” She commented to him.  
“Don’t know what you mean,” Tommy said, standing up.  
“Bullshit. You know exactly what I’m talking about.” She said as Tommy began to head out. “Your feelings will be the death of you, Thomas Shelby, mark my words!” She called as the door slammed behind him.

______________________________________________  
Fast forward to when Ada has her own child, Karl, who is 5

“Mummy!” Karl cried as he looked down at his work. “I don’t get this!”  
“I know you don’t,” Ada said with a groan as she tried to focus on her son’s math homework. “But you need to shut it while Mummy looks this over.” Karl had been complaining every other second while Ada had been trying to help him with his work which was driving Ada crazy. It was simple addition but Ada couldn’t figure out a way to explain it to her son. She had already tried showing him how to count on his fingers but the boy didn’t seem to understand that.

Karl managed to be quiet for a whole minute before the complaining started again. “Karl Throne, shut your mouth or I will not help you!” Ada exclaimed with another groan as the door opened.

“What’s going on in here?” Asked a deep voice and Ada turned to see Thomas standing there.  
“Uncle Tommy!” Karl exclaimed, jumping off his chair and running to greet him. Tommy knelt and gave the boy a light hug, ruffling his hair before making his way over to Ada. He pulled out his cigarettes as he looked over Ada’s shoulder, lighting one before taking a deep drag in. 

“Why don’t I help him?” Thomas offered and Ada took the offer instantly. She moved aside as Thomas sat down and pulled Karl’s homework over to him while Karl climbed back up onto the chair. “Now, this is just some simple addin’.” Tommy said after a moment. He reached out and grab a scrap piece of paper, ripping it up. “Now...” He began and Ada had to smile faintly. It seemed that things did indeed come in a full circle. Once Karl had finished his homework, he ran off to go play. "Thank you for helping him." Ada said once Karl had run off. "Course. It isn't hard." Thomas said with a faint shrug as he took a few drags of his cigarette. "And besides, I've had practice helping his mum." Tommy added then, giving Ada a wink. 


End file.
